Tina Fey and Amy Poehler
Baby Mama's stars on the absurdities of city parenting.
by Gwynne Watkins
April 22, 2008
The film also nails the male perspective on pregnancy and childbirth.
Tina: Michael [McCullers] wrote the movie and he's a father of three. And his wife actually had a baby — God bless her — she had to pick up [during shooting] and move her two kids, and her pregnant belly, to New York.
Amy: . . . While I spoke to her with a big pregnant belly that I took off at lunch: "I'm really tired, this belly is so heavy!"
This movie does a great job of capturing the absurdity of urban parenting culture. Tina, have you had any moments where you've thought, This could only be happening to me here and now as a city parent?
Tina: It is a different thing to be a city parent. There is a lot of pressure: "What classes are your children taking?" My daughter starts pre-school next year, so I just went through the process of taking her to her pre-school interviews. And you're just hoping, "Please don't poop yourself during this time."
Amy: Did she wear a little power suit and carry a teeny-tiny briefcase?
Tina: She had a little teeny-tiny resume. Made of candy.
You've probably talked to death about Christopher Hitchens' Vanity Fair article [about how women aren't funny]. Do you feel a personal responsibility to hit him with the business end of a funny stick?
Tina: I've never read the article.
"It is a different thing to be a city parent. There is a lot of pressure." — Tina Fey
First of all, I don't have that kind of time, I can't read a Vanity Fair article. It's like fifteen pages. Also, I'm sure I disagree. So, I sort of did a President Bush on it: "I'm not gonna read that. I'm not gonna like it."
Amy: You bushed it? Nice.
Tina: To me, if someone is drifting towards writing about that topic, it always says, "Oop, somebody didn't have an idea this week. They went to the old file-o-fax."
Tina, it was reported in the New York Times that 30 Rock is "pushing the boundaries of the family hour" with MILF Island (a fake reality show that appeared in one episode). Are you trying to make the show more obscene?
Tina: No, I take great pride in operating within the boundaries of the standards rules. I think it's harder to make comedy when you can't curse. I don't think I realized how shocked people might be by the term "MILF Island." The New York Post would not print the word MILF. They will print a five-page spread of the glamorous side of a prostitute, so I was surprised. But no, it is not our intention to ruin family time. Often times in our writer's room I'll say, "Oh, this is going to be on at 8:41 p.m. — lets back off of it a little bit."
Amy: I love ruining family time.
©2008 Gwynne Watkins and Nerve Media
About the Author
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Gwynne Watkins was Babble's founding Senior Editor. She has written for a variety of web and print publications, and her theatrical work has been produced throughout the New York area. Her new family musical, Tea with Chachaji, will premiere in early 2010. |
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